PIGS AND PROSPERITY ▶▶▶


An end to the “cage age”? A


t the end of June, the European Commission decided that the current EU legislation for farm animal housing will be revised. New legislation will include the commitment to phase out the use of cages for farm animals, including for lactating sows. The phase-out is envisaged


for 2027. This sudden change comes after 1.4 million EU citizens actively supported the “End the cage age” campaign. This shows again the power of citizens and that so- cietal opinion needs to be considered when making decisions in farm design. Phasing out farrowing crates is ambitious, as solutions are not simple. They have to be determined case by case, because for each farm the transition to free far- rowing will be different, based on the current building layout, management and financial situation. Therefore, there is no single checklist of aspects to change or implement in order to successfully manage loose-housed sows. This was one of the main conclusions in a recent meeting among free farrowing experts from research and industry. When speaking about loose housing of sows it is important to distinguish free farrowing from temporary crating. Free farrowing means that the sow is loose during farrowing and lactation. In temporary crating, the sow is kept in temporary confinement for up to about five days around farrowing and thereafter is loose housed for the remainder of the lactation phase. Completely free farrowing requires a different design and different management than a temporary crating system. Temporary crating is a promising way to provide the sow with more freedom while minimising piglet crushing. Research studies show that temporary crating can give similar results to the conventional farrowing crate. A major disadvantage is that crating before farrowing prevents the sow from nest building, and prevent- ing this natural innate behaviour disrupts the hormone release in the sows. In- stead of maternal hormones increasing, stress-related peaks in cortisol occur. This negatively affects the farrowing process and the maternal response. Free farrowing expert Professor Sandra Edwards warned about the influence of societal opinion when making the decision between temporary crating and free farrowing. While temporary crating may be a more suitable alternative for most farmers than free farrowing, society may not accept the temporary crating sys- tem, which could lead to a similar situation as the enriched cages for laying hens. A further consideration on the decision about pen design is the difference between a potential EU recommended minimum for pen dimensions, and the optimum dimensions. The minimum standards consider only part of the farm’s needs and may therefore not give optimal results. An optimum design considers both the sow, piglet and workers’ needs and safety. Taken together, the phasing out of farrowing crates in the EU is likely, but there is not a single golden solution, and decisions on alternatives should be based on individual farm possibilities and needs, while considering increased societal pressure for completely crate-free housing.


Irene Camerlink is an interdisciplinary research- er focusing on pig behaviour, welfare and production. She is attached to the Polish Academy of Sciences.


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▶ PIG PROGRESS | Volume 37, No. 8, 2021


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